Mops are widely used domestically to clean floors of homes, offices, recreation vehicles and boats. Usually, domestic mops are inexpensive items, as distinguished from industrial mops which must be more rugged because of the hard use to which they are put.
One type of domestic mop has a handle with a mop head, at one end, designed to hold a mop of cotton threads or strings. Auwarter U.S. Pat. No. 3,187,363 and Oas U.S. Pat. No. 3,457,581 disclose domestic mops with mop heads made of polymeric material.
The mop head disclosed in the Oas U.S. Pat. No. 3,457,581, has a polymeric hood and a mop retaining bar bendably joined integrally at one end to an end wall of the hood. The other end of the bar terminates in a bendable portion with a ball end. The adjoining end wall of the hood has a vertical slot through which this bendable portion can be moved to position the ball in a recess on the hood top wall. In this manner it is intended to lock a mop, located on the retaining bar, in place. However, the described structure has several undesirable features. Thus, the end wall is not continuous since the vertical slot divides it in half, thereby reducing its strength. More importantly, when a cotton mop is in place, it applies an outward force to the bendable portion having the ball. This force can release the ball from its recess position and move the bendable portion out of the slot so that the mop retaining bar becomes unlocked. The mop will then be freed and come loose upon further handling, especially when dipped in water.
From the above it is clear that an improved mop head and locking arrangement are needed.